Fabian Schar is not even looking at the Premier League table as Newcastle continue their march towards safety.
The Switzerland international has been a key figure in the Magpies’ recent revival and scored the decisive goal in Saturday’s 2-1 home victory over Brighton, which extended their unbeaten run to eight games.
A return of 18 points from a possible 24 has eased Eddie Howe’s men seven clear of the drop zone, but, with successive away games at Southampton, Chelsea, Everton and Tottenham to come either side of this month’s international break, he is simply targeting more of the same.
Schar told NUFC TV: “When you see where we were a few weeks ago and where we are now, the difference is huge and the change in the team is massive.
“Now we are eight games unbeaten, we have a lot of confidence, obviously, and we enjoy winning games. We just want to keep going like that.
“I don’t think look too much at the table, where we are, how many points – I don’t care too much, to be honest.
“I just take it game by game and want to win every game, because obviously it’s much more enjoyable. We’re doing everything every day to work hard every day to just deliver what is needed to get three points.”
Newcastle laid the foundation for their latest victory inside three first-half minutes when Ryan Fraser and then Schar struck and, although Lewis Dunk pulled a goal back after the break to spark something of an onslaught by the visitors, the hosts held firm.
Schar said: “We won the game, we’re unbeaten now in eight games, so obviously we’re all very happy, even though we know it probably wasn’t our best performance or what we can deliver.
“But still, if you win games where you’re probably not playing your best, it’s even better. Three points at the end is all that matters and we’re really happy about it.”
If the Magpies’ current trajectory is upward, the Seagulls find themselves in something of a lull after a fourth defeat on the trot, although head coach Graham Potter was pleased with much of what he saw on Tyneside.
He said: “It’s four defeats for us and prior to that, we hadn’t lost too many in the season, so that’s how the league can turn quickly.
“Before that, we were on the back of an unbeaten club record in the highest league, so it is what it is.
“There were lots of positives in terms of the performance – it’s a big improvement from the last couple of games we’ve had.
“The boys are suffering a bit and of course we’re suffering a bit in terms of results, but we’ll learn from this and get better for it.”
